Mr Assange said Russia was not the source for the site’s mass leak of emails from the Democratic Party.

Mr Trump has now backed that view in a tweet. He wrote: “Assange… said Russians did not give him the info!”

The president-elect has repeatedly refused to accept the conclusions of the US intelligence community.

Based on what? Nothing. Just his wishes. He doesn’t want it to be the case that Russia hacked DNC emails and helped sabotage Clinton, therefore he asserts that it’s not the case. He is Important, and the truth is not, therefore he gets to assert whatever he chooses to assert as truth, because he is The Big Dog, and the big dog is always right.

On Tuesday evening, Mr Trump said an intelligence briefing he was due to receive on the issue had been delayed.

“Perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” he wrote.

But US intelligence officials insisted there had been no delay in the briefing schedule.

Mr Assange said Russia was not the source for the site’s mass leak of emails from the Democratic Party.

And how would he know? He might know. He might have great knowledge of the intelligence network that brought him the emails. But he might not know and we’ve no idea which scenario is true. Also, he might be lying: we already know we can’t trust him as a source.

Although it hurts me to say it, I’d trust US intelligence above someone who might or might not have pertinent information and who releases leaked information on his own whim, without provenance.